Group, credit unions work to get beds for kids

LYNN – Hundreds of local children wake up for school on an air mattress or even a floor, said a branch manager for St. Jean’s Credit Union, which is working with Brother Credit Union and a local homeless coalition to buy beds for 1,500 students who are homeless or facing homelessness.”We’ve gone to deliver Thanksgiving meals and seen a mattress on the floor,” St. Jean’s Branch manager Lisa Campbell said during a press conference at St. Jean’s Maple Street office.Lynnway-based Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless hopes to raise $200,000 over the next year to purchase mattresses, bed frames and linens. St. Jean’s President David Surface said the credit union will tell its 15,000 members, including 7,000 Lynn residents, about the bed buying campaign.”We have a responsibility to the community, especially with the coalition in Lynn. It’s a great match for us,” he said.St. Jean’s workers annually raise money for the coalition by selling candy, organizing book drives and Thanksgiving food distributions for homeless individuals and families.Campbell said families struggling to hold onto their homes can benefit from the bed campaign.Coalition Director Robyn Frost said the coalition started identifying local families “on the verge of homelessness” last spring. Parents participating in a housing seminar with coalition workers last spring mentioned the need for children’s beds.”We work closely with the public schools to see how we can partner with parents and teachers,” Frost saidCoalition workers learned in conversation with parents that children were sleeping on floors or sharing beds with siblings. Frost also said bed bugs contracted in infested apartments or other living situations forced parents to throw away mattresses and beds without having the money to buy new beds.School Department Homeless Liaison Deborah Barnard does not know how many of the public schools’ 13,000 students lack beds, but she said homelessness among students parallels ongoing local and national economic difficulties.”Poverty is driving the problem. Many heads of households are out of work or on the verge of losing housing,” Barnard said.Frost said the coalition has a long history of working with credit unions to aid the homeless. For four years, Brotherhood Credit on Market Street has contributed $2,800 annually to buy heating oil and other fuel for individuals and families who choose between paying rent or heating their residences to avoid homelessness.”We’re based in Lynn and we see the economic struggles of families, even people freezing in their homes,” said Brotherhood Finance Manager Adam Sherman.Frost said St. Jean’s and Brotherhood’s involvement in the bed buying campaign will draw in other donors.Frost said the bed buying effort has already started and said 20 families will receive new beds by next week. She said helping to give children a good night’s sleep helps improve their ability to learn and, eventually, graduate from high school.”We want to guarantee every child gets out of a bed every morning,” she said.